


Pardon My Heart

by Rroselavy



Category: Yugioh
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-06
Updated: 2010-06-06
Packaged: 2017-10-09 23:17:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/92678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rroselavy/pseuds/Rroselavy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On Valentine's Day Seto Kaiba reflects that perhaps his ex-lover Joey Wheeler wasn't as high-maintenance as he once believed, but will Joey give him a second chance to set things right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pardon My Heart

Seto Kaiba leaned back in his Herman Miller chair, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply. He really was better off without the blond and his histrionics, he thought to himself, and to prove it, as he sat there practicing the relaxation technique his physician had shown him, the young CEO mentally listed all of the reasons.

To begin with, Joey Wheeler was both moody and quick-tempered. How many times had he come home after a long tedious day at the office dealing with morons and imbeciles, intent only on curling up with his lover and perhaps watching a movie before fucking him into sweet oblivion, only to be confronted by an angry, scowling blond, his hands set on his hips, incensed at some imaginary slight, like the last time that Kaiba'd had forgotten to call home and tell Joey that he would be late for dinner. It seemed that Joey had spent hours in the kitchen on some culinary masterpiece that had been ruined by Kaiba's tardiness. The final straw had been New Year's Eve, when the blond had deliberately picked a fight and broken up with him because he'd fallen asleep before midnight. Could he help it if he'd had to spend the previous twenty-four hours at Kaiba Corp. troubleshooting his incompetent programmers' code? Right before that had been the Christmas debacle. Seto had flown to New York City for an emergency meeting with his US ad agency, promising to be home in time for Christmas Eve, only to be caught in one of the worst snow storms in the city's history. The 'Storm of the Century,' the meteorologists had called it. It had been nothing compared to the gale force emotions he'd had to endure upon arriving home on the 26th. No, he reminded himself, he did not miss Joey's infuriating outbursts.

Wheeler never knew when to keep his big mouth shut, either. Kaiba could still feel his blood boil just thinking about how the blond had let slip to the media that they were dating, and the effect that juicy bit of gossip had had on last quarter's bottom line. Joey had just smiled sheepishly when Kaiba had explained how his company had lost 10% of its value because of the blond's loose lips. 'So what,' Joey had shrugged. 'You'll make more.'

Frankly, it was embarrassing to be seen eating in public with Wheeler-Kaiba had seen better table manners exhibited by three-year-olds--and the blond's slovenly behavior extended into their living space. Joey never picked up after himself; following after him in his morning ablutions meant wading through more damp towels than one thought humanly possible to soil, and the blond managed to further irritate the brunet with his habit of leaving the toothpaste cap off the toothpaste. He managed to get it in the vicinity of the tube, was it really such a stretch to twist it back on?

So why was it that at the moment, the CEO found himself pining for Wheeler's companionship and mooning over a stupid snapshot of the two of them taken by Mokuba at the shore last August? He glanced wistfully at the tanned blond smiling broadly at him and ran his thumb over the sculpted torso. They'd rented a beach house for the week, the first vacation Kaiba had taken in years-he'd only worked a couple of hours each morning- and it had been nothing short of blissful. They'd spent ten days swimming and sunning themselves on the pristine beach, and evenings pampered by the house staff with exotic delicacies. He tore his eyes away reluctantly and looked at the snow cascading outside his window, some of it caught in updrafts, briefly defying gravity before once again descending toward earth. He shivered inwardly and glanced at the calendar. It was February 14th-Valentine's Day-he remembered, then rolled his eyes and frowned. That was another thing that annoyed him about his ex-boyfriend. Joey, it turned out, was hopelessly romantic, and now it appeared some of that had rubbed off on the brunet, because here he was getting all melancholy over someone that half of the time he couldn't decide whether he wanted to kiss or kill.

His office suddenly felt claustrophobic and he needed to get out to clear his head. He decided that a brisk walk around Domino City's Central Park would be the perfect antidote to the tightness that gripped his chest. He would return to the office later, after most of his employees had left for the day and then work into the night so that he could forget about his empty house and the empty bed that awaited him there. He closed up his laptop and shrugged into his fur-lined trench coat, wrapped the black cashmere scarf that Joey had gotten him for Christmas around his neck, and with barely a glower at his secretaries as he strode by, he ordered all of his afternoon appointments cancelled and rescheduled. It registered in his consciousness that both of them had shrank from him as he'd barked out his command, and he wondered idly if that had always been the case. But as he pondered that question, one of the women, Hitomi Kaneko, spoke up hesitantly, and stopped him in his tracks.

"Mr. Kaiba?"

"What!" He snarled impatiently at the young woman.

Averting her eyes under his glare, she said tentatively, "M-Mr. Wheeler was here earlier-"

His heartbeat quickened, Joey had come to see him! "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked angrily.

"Y-you said you weren't to be disturbed."

Kaiba's scowl deepened and he was prepared to berate Hitomi when Hana Nozaki, his most valued secretary and sometime confidante, intervened.

"I'm sorry, Sir. Mr. Wheeler said he didn't want to bother you, he just left this for you." She picked up a red velvet box and handed it to him. He recognized it immediately as the same box that the Christmas present he'd given to Joey had been in, and he was enveloped with a cold fury when he opened it and saw the dog tag he'd had engraved for his lover lying on the satin pillow inside. "He also left this-" Kaiba snatched the plain envelope that Hana held in her hands. She stood looking at him expectantly.

"What's wrong now?" He growled.

"Sir, I know that it hasn't been the easiest time for you-"

"Don't assume you know anything about what is going on in my life-" he seethed.

"It's just that ... when you were seeing Mr. Wheeler ... it seemed for the first time since I'd met you that you were happy."

"And your point is?" He glared at the older woman, who gazed back at him, unafraid.

She took a deep breath and measured her words carefully. "Mr. Kaiba," she began in a deferent tone. "I know that it was difficult to weather the storm of publicity that surrounded you after it was revealed that you were involved in a homosexual relationship." He snorted derisively, but she powered on. "But you were happy, and Kaiba Corp.-for the first time since I became employed here-was a nice place to work. But now, since you've broken up with Mr. Wheeler, it's become even worse. You barely grunt at your employees and you are all too willing to take our heads off for all but imagined slights."

"I was happy then?" He asked derisively. "When my stocks were taking a nosedive? You should be ecstatic that I'm no longer dating that mutt. Our numbers have done a complete reversal, and all your jobs are safe. In fact, it looks like I will be able to give generous raises to my ~loyal~ employees."

"I don't care about earning more money in the short-run, Mr. Kaiba, I care about you. You're entitled to be happy, and I believe that you would have turned this company around regardless of how the public viewed your private affairs." She gazed at him sympathetically. "I've known you since Gozaburo-san adopted you. Don't think I don't know what a cruel man he was. His cruelty wasn't limited to his adopted son-"

"Then why did ~you~ stay?" He snarled.

"I stayed to watch over you." She looked away from him then, and he saw a tear slide down her cheek. He remembered back to when he'd first met her. She'd been hired after a string of young secretaries had quit. It had been nearly impossible for Gozaburo to find anyone who would work as his secretary. Hana had been older than all of the other candidates by some ten years, something that Gozaburo detested. He found it much easier to cow younger women, but none of the other applicants would accept his job offer; he'd established a reputation as a cruel bully who considered it a sport to make his secretary cry. Right from the beginning Hana had stood up against his tyrannical behavior, but she was efficient and never minded when he dumped his adopted sons on her, so they'd forged a fragile truce. Kaiba thought about all the times she'd buffered his stepfather's abusiveness, how she'd helped him complete the enormous amounts of homework that he was given and often corrected the mistakes he'd make in his haste to be done with it. He grasped suddenly that she'd been the closest thing to a mother that he'd ever known. Shocked by that revelation, without another word, he turned on his heel and headed away from the reception area.

As he waited for his private elevator, he realized that lately everyone seemed to be avoiding him. Mentally he traced a path back through time, trying to discern how long people had been acting that way towards him, concluding that it had started after the New Year holiday. On his best days, he was terse and no nonsense, but since he'd broken up with Joey, he'd been downright surly. Damn that mutt and all his nattering about empathy. He'd been quite content not giving a damn about his employees' feelings. Now he was saddled with yet another responsibility. When the elevator arrived, he turned back to his secretaries, who'd set about rearranging all of his appointments.

"I'll be gone for the day and see no reason for you to stay on. After you've cleared my schedule, you may leave." Before either could respond, he let the elevator doors close.

Once he was alone, Kaiba wasted no time carelessly ripping open the envelope. He knew that it couldn't be good news, given that it was delivered with his returned gift, but a small part of him hoped that perhaps the blond had come to his senses and was begging his forgiveness. His frown deepened as he read the hand-written note.

'Seto-

I see that your stocks are up since we've broken up ... I guess there's an upside to everything. I didn't feel comfortable keeping your Christmas present any longer, since the sentiment no longer applied.

I hope sometime you find someone who can make you happy. Believe it or not, you deserve to.

JW'

He stuffed the letter angrily into his pocket and then opened the box and stared at its contents. The dog tag was made of sterling silver and hung from a 24" chain. On one side had been engraved, "I am yours and you are mine, always." and on the obverse, "SK + JW - 02.07.05." They hadn't even made it to six months, he sighed. The elevator doors opened to the massive lobby of the building, and he raced purposefully through it, ignoring the guards at the security desk and the doorman who hurriedly opened the doors as he exited the building.

The park was desolate, which suited Kaiba fine, and the falling snow muffled his footsteps. The only sound he heard was his own harsh breathing as he recalled the last time he'd seen or spoken to Joey. It was a memory that had played over and over in his head a countless number of times since New Year's Eve, never diminishing in its capacity to elicit the painful revelation that he could have handled the situation so much better.

"Y'know Set, I can live with being third in your life, after Mokuba and KC, but what I can't take anymore is your lack of respect fah me."

"I do respect you, mu--Joey." Kaiba said, trying vainly to hide his annoyance. Why did it seem that every time he was bone-tired and in need of relaxation, Joey needed to 'talk about things?' What the hell was there to talk about? He'd just worked his ass off around the clock-who cared that it was New Year's Eve-it was just another day on the calendar. Apparently his lover did, and the CEO's lack of enthusiasm over it, and his nodding off before the magical hour of midnight, was some kind of cardinal sin.

The blond shook his head. "No you don't. If ya did, ya'd call me whenever you were gonna be late." Whenever he was upset or angry, Joey's pronunciation would slip, Kaiba could often judge how much trouble he was in by how often Joey slurred his words together and dropped his Rs; Kaiba immediately sensed the depth of the hot water he was in.

But he wasn't feeling charitable. He was downright exhausted from working and from dealing with the blond's emotional roller coaster. He rolled his eyes. "For chrissakes! This is over me being late for dinner?"

"No! Dis is over you treatin' me like one of your employees, not like yah lover. An' I'm tired of it. I think we need to re-evaluate our relationship."

'Big words for a mutt,' Kaiba thought, exercising what he considered to be immense patience in not saying them out loud and exacerbating the situation. "I'm perfectly clear on ~our relationship~. You seem to be the one having a problem with it. You seem to have a problem accepting me for who I am."

"I don't accept you? Ya gotta be kiddin' me," Joey snorted. "I go out of my way ta cater ta your every whim. But the minute I complain about somethin', then I'm getting all 'high- maintenance' on ya. I'm sick of not bein' able to talk about what's botherin' me."

"That's all you ever talk about, Joey. I never know who I'm going to come home to, my lover or some emotional wreck."

"You are so impossible! If I'm an emotional wreck, it's because I get no support from you!"

"You live in my house, eat my food, and wear clothes that I pay for. What more support do you need?" Kaiba struggled to maintain his cool, despite his belief that Joey was way out of line.

"Dat's not what I'm talkin' about! We have no intimacy. We have alotta great sex--mind- blowing sex--but you can get dat from a hooker just as easily as from me. I need more from ya. I need ya ta trust me, ta let me in. I need fah ya ta be there fah me-"

"What do you want, me to tell you all the dark secrets of my rotten childhood? Get in touch with my feminine side? Stroke your head and tell you everything's going to be all right? You know that's not me."

Joey knit his brow and bit his lip, and Kaiba could see he was having a hard time with whatever he was planning on saying. "That's not what I'm talking about and you know it. You come home from work; you eat, watch TV, and then fuck me. Your idea of foreplay is scanning the stock ticker."

To be accused of that much insensitivity was too much for the brunet. He knew that he was considered to be a cold fish, but he believed he more than made up for that label by showering Joey with all sorts of luxuries, going so far as to set him up with a trust to ensure that he would never want for food or clothes or shelter again. And here he was being attacked for the one thing in their relationship that he thought was perfect-their sex life. "You know Wheeler, it's obvious you don't appreciate anything that I ~do~ do for you. If I'm that poor of a boyfriend, then maybe you should go find someone better."

"That's not what I want, I wanna stay here with you!" Joey exclaimed vehemently. 'Yeah, you've nowhere else to go,' Kaiba thought bitterly. "I love you, Set! I just thought ... oh, never mind what I thought." Joey stared searchingly into Kaiba's eyes before adding with finality, "Ya know what? You're right, this ain't workin'."

He should have never let Joey leave that night. Maybe they still would have ended up the same way, he alone, and Joey sleeping on the couch at Yugi and Tea's place, but they should have come to that conclusion with leveler heads. Though that was impossible when it came to their relationship. It was so much fire and ice, so much passion. That was the thing about Joey. He made Kaiba ~feel~ things that he'd never felt before. Sure there was the usual anger and disdain that seemed to color his world, but no one could send thrills of joy down his spine the way that Joey could with even an off-hand comment or a gentle touch, and he'd proven to be an intellectual match to Kaiba in grasping the nuances of his business dealings. That was another source of endless irritation for the brunet; that Joey never aspired to use his innate skills for anything beyond waiting on customers at the Kame Game Shop. He couldn't understand how the blond could be so content working such a menial job. 'It's not about money or ambition, Set. It's about being happy and helping out a friend. I like working with people, I know about gaming, and Grandpa needs help now that Yugi's at university.' And yet, as annoying as he found Joey's loyalty to his friends and by extension, their families, Kaiba also had a deep admiration for that generous trait.

The snow was coming down much heavier and the wind had picked up and Kaiba slipped on a pair of fur-lined earmuffs. He was alone in the park as far as he could tell, and felt alone in the world. Mokuba had barely spoken to him since Joey left. Mokuba blamed his brother entirely for the breakup, going so far as to comment that he was amazed that Joey had put up with Kaiba as long as he did. When the young CEO had protested, Mokuba had just rolled his eyes. 'Face it, niisama, you're an idiot when it comes to matters of the heart,' he'd said in a tone wise beyond his years. Kaiba would have argued that point, but it would have been a futile one, Mokuba had a whole laundry list at his disposal of examples that supported his position.

His musings had taken the CEO to the other side of park, near the modest apartment that Mutou shared with his girlfriend. He left the park and headed in the direction of their flat, uncertain that anyone would be home. If that were the case, he would just call for his limo, but judging by the amount of snow piling up and the lack of street and pedestrian traffic, Joey was certain to be there, along with his friends. He didn't know what to say to his ex- lover, but perhaps he would take Tea's advice, and begin with 'I'm sorry.' He thought about the conversation that he'd had with her early on New Year's Day.

"Kaiba, how can you be so heartless?" Tea's shrill voice had cut through his throbbing hangover the next morning.

He winced and held his cell phone away from his head. What the fuck? She was calling him at seven am on New Year's morning to bitch at him? There could be only one reason for that. "Look, Gardner, ~he~ left ~me~. But I don't see what business it is of yours."

"Oh, you don't." She replied tartly, "Where do you think he ended up, crying until four am?" Of course Joey would go to Mutou's place. Since they'd become an item, he'd not been welcome at his father's place.

"He's there?" He asked dumbly, and despite still being angry with the blond, relief flooded through his body.

"Yes, and if you know what's good for you, you'll come over here and apologize!"

"Me. Apologize. He walked out on me!"

"You know, Kaiba, if it were up to me, I'd never let you speak to him again. But for whatever the reason, he ~loves~ you. He's probably the only person other than Mokuba that you know who can stand to be in the same room with you for five minutes without wanting to punch you that you don't have to pay! You need to make this right. Tell him you're sorry," she advised.

Instead, he'd hung up on her and dug in his heels. If Joey was suffering, it was all his own doing; he'd walked out of their relationship. Kaiba felt his pride well up in him and took out his cell phone to call his driver. What was he thinking? Apologize to Joey? No! He was the one who was owed an apology from that ingrate. But the sentiment rang hollow, he knew that he'd taken Joey for granted, and that is why the blond's words had hurt him so deeply. Joey'd known it too, and when the blond had called him on it, Kaiba had refused to admit his error. And now he'd spent six weeks wallowing in his own misery and sharing his grief with everyone around him. He thought about Joey's note, buried deep in his pocket. He ~had~ found someone who made him happy, only he'd squandered it over his own denial of the facts. He ran his fingers over the velvet box in his pocket. Didn't Joey understand the meaning of the engraved words? They spoke the simple truth; that his heart would always belong to the blond. With new resolve, he marched toward Mutou's building.

 

* * *

Joey paced the floor nervously and stared out the apartment window at the near whiteout conditions. Dinner was almost ready and his guest had yet to arrive. He snorted, ~if~ he was coming at all. He'd taken a big gamble in returning Kaiba's present earlier in the day, but he was used to risk-taking, and had become adept at studying human nature. And so he'd choreographed his plan for the evening. As a thank you for putting up with him for the past six weeks, and also to get rid of them, he'd given Yugi and Tea a night at the Ritz-Carlton. It had cost him half of his week's pay, but if the night unfolded as he'd intended for it to, it would be the best 30,000 Yen he'd ever spent.

He heard the downstairs buzzer and quickly looked himself over in the mirror before answering it. He was wearing slim-fitting black jeans into which a deep green button- down shirt had been tucked. He undid the top two buttons of his shirt, revealing the smooth planes of his chest, devoid of the necklace he'd worn until earlier in the day. He shook out his hair, and pressed the intercom.

"Who is it?" He asked into the speaker, and then listened for a response.

"Joey, it's me." The blond's heart fluttered at the sound of his ex-lover's baritone. "Can you let me in? I want to talk."

"I think I've heard about all I want of what you hafta say, Seto."

"Joey ... please? It's cold out here, and what I need to say ... I want to tell you in person." Joey pressed the button that unlocked the entrance door, and waited in the doorway for Kaiba to arrive. He heard the brunet trudging up the four flights to the apartment, and was surprised at the disheveled state Kaiba was in when he appeared.

"What happened to you?" He asked the brunet, concern seeping into his voice.

Kaiba grinned at him. "I walked. Here, these are for you." He proffered a snowy bouquet of red roses.

Recovering from his momentary lapse, Joey crossed his arms over his body, conscious of how his ex's eyes had been roving appreciatively over it. Ignoring the flowers, he asked coldly, "So what's so important that ya had to walk here in a snowstorm ta tell me?"

"May I come inside? I'd rather tell you in private. That is, unless ..."

"Oh, they aren't home, won't be until some time tomorrow." Joey noted the predatory glint that flickered in Kaiba's eyes as he digested that information. 'Na uh uh ... it ain't gonna be that easy for ya,' he thought to himself. "So, yeah, come in, tell me what ya need ta say, and then ... I'm sure you have somewhere else better ta be, rather than wasting ya time here with me." He stepped aside to let the brunet in. Again Kaiba held out the bouquet for him to take.

"Thanks. What's the occasion?" Joey asked stiffly, as Kaiba deliberately brushed against him as he entered the apartment. "Yah never brought me flowers when we were datin'," he added, taking the bouquet from the brunet. "Lemme put these in water." He brought the flowers into the kitchen and rummaged under the sink for a vase.

Kaiba felt a blush stain his cheeks at the view Joey presented to him, bent at the waist, his ass pressing against the already snug fabric of his jeans. He grit his teeth, "No special occasion," he lied. "And spending time with you was never a waste, Joey," he added softly. Changing the subject then, he exclaimed, "It smells amazing in here, what are you making?"

"Roast beef." Joey said, his voice deliberately flat, as he retrieved and filled a vase with water, and then, referring to Kaiba's other comment, he added, "So, whatever ... what was it that you wanted ta say?" Kaiba waited for the blond to return and then undid his coat and slipped out of it, allowing Joey to see the scarf that he was wearing. Joey gazed longingly at his ex-lover's lean body before catching himself and reaching for the coat. "Here, let me get that for ya." He took the heavy overcoat, hung it up in the front closet and then waited for Kaiba to speak.

The brunet took a deep breath. "I'm not happy with the way things were left between us." He glanced into Joey's eyes, saw indignation creeping into his expression, then gazed quickly down at his snow-covered boots, intently observing the melt that pooled beneath his soles. "Joey ... I'm sorry," he said quickly, and then suddenly words were tumbling out. "You were right. I was wrong. I didn't think about you. I took you for granted-mmmnnf" He was silenced by Joey's lips being planted over his; the blond having abandoned his plan to make his ex-lover squirm. Kaiba had come, he'd said he was sorry, and that was good enough for him.

Getting over his initial shock at Joey's reaction, the brunet crushed him into an embrace and pinned him against the wall, easily gaining the upper hand and dominating the kiss. His head was spinning and he was overcome with passion and desire; he'd forgotten just how good Joey tasted, and just how right the blond's body fit against his own. Joey broke away from the kiss, and sought purchase on Kaiba's throat, alternately sucking and licking at one of his known erogenous zones-the point where his neck met his collarbone.

"Baby, I've missed you so much," the words continued to fall from the brunet's lips unbeckoned. "I just didn't know how to make it right again. I kept thinking that you would come around. But then when you left my present ... ngh ... God, Joey!" He gasped as his belt and pants were deftly undone and warm hands slid along his throbbing shaft.

Joey smiled devilishly against his lover's chest as his hand encircled Kaiba's sex and he slowly fondled it along its silken length. His gamble had worked, he'd have to thank Tea for giving him the idea the next time he saw her. Kaiba roughly tilted the blond's head up and he kissed him, his tongue possessively exploring the interior of Joey's mouth while his hands roamed freely over his lissome body. He pulled Joey's shirttails out of his pants and caressed the heated skin underneath.

"Mmm Set, I-" Joey's thoughts were disrupted by the timer going off, and he pulled away suddenly. "I have to get dinner out of the oven. Will you stay?" The brunet nodded breathlessly, wondering how he was going to make it through dinner without making a meal of Joey. Satisfied with his lover's answer, Joey headed for the kitchen. Kaiba, meanwhile, pulled his pants up and removed his wet boots and damp socks. For the first time he noticed that the dining table had been set for two.

"Were you expecting someone?" Kaiba asked ominously.

Caught red-handed, it was Joey's turn to blush. "Um, yes. You." He added hurriedly.

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "You plotted all this? Why didn't you just pick up the phone and call me? Don't you think that would have been easier?"

"Ya know you could have called just as easily!" Joey snapped, and then eyed Kaiba nervously. "Look, if I'd made the first move, then you'd have never realized that you wanted to get back together as much as I wanted to. So I figured I'd give ya a little nudge."

Kaiba blinked back his anger and then smiled. How could he be mad at Joey for playing him, when he was so happy to be here with him? "That was quite a gamble. You could have ended up alone tonight."

"Believe me, I know," Joey agreed. "Especially with all this snow. But I'm glad I was right."

Kaiba absently touched his lips that were tingling with the memory of their heated kiss. "So am I. But what if I hadn't come?"

Joey looked at him wide-eyed. "I didn't have a contingency plan. I ~knew~ you would come."

Kaiba shook his head in disbelief. That was classic Joey, if he hadn't known his lover so well, he would have accused the blond of taking risks without a safety net. But Kaiba knew that Joey had a natural talent for reading people. It was that talent which had caused him to doggedly pursue the brunet, even though Kaiba had erected barriers between them every chance he'd gotten. His lover's unerring awareness of other people's feelings, sometimes even before they themselves were aware of them, was something that Kaiba loved about him.

Dinner was a blur. Neither lover was that interested in the food on their plates; although Kaiba was careful to lavish praise on the blond's impressive culinary skills. But he was just satisfied that they were sharing each other's company, and while he could tell that his lover was just as content, Kaiba knew that he had a lot to make up for.

As he gazed lovingly at Joey, he said, "If you come back to me, I promise that I will-"

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Set." Joey interrupted. "If this is going to work out, we both need to have realistic expectations."

"I don't think yours were unrealistic. I've never cared enough for anyone else other than Mokuba to think about their feelings. To think about how I affected them. I didn't pay attention to what you needed. But I think that I'm ready to do that."

Joey bit his lip. "That's all I can ask for. And I'll try to be-"

"You don't have to try to be anything, Joey. This is on me." Kaiba sighed. "I don't have anything to complain about," he smiled weakly. "Except, you could try to clean up after yourself a little better ... and the toothpaste cap-"

Joey snorted. "Yeah, I know, I know. It's a good thing you ain't a woman. Tea's been on my case about the toilet seat, too"

The conversation trickled into silence, and they finished their meal in silence. "So what now, Joey?" Kaiba asked after the blond had cleared the dishes.

Joey shrugged. "I dunno, d'ya want me ta come home with ya?"

"Yes, but I meant what ~now~?" Kaiba smiled wickedly. "You planned this entire evening. "How did you envision it ending?"

Joey winked and grinned at his lover as he slid into Kaiba's welcoming lap. "Well, I always thought makeup sex was overrated, care ta prove me wrong?"

He took Joey's face in his hands tenderly and gently kissed his lips, his chin, and his cheeks, before pressing against his mouth again, his tongue insistently pushing past Joey's teeth. Joey sucked on it teasingly, and then moaned wantonly when Kaiba grinded their crotches together. He busied his hands opening the blond's shirt, his fingers searching for Joey's rapidly hardening nipples. "Wait," the blond gasped. "I have something for you!"

"Mmm hmm," Kaiba purred absently. "You sure do."

"Hold that thought," Joey said, escaping the brunet's clutches. Kaiba closed his eyes and threw his head back in frustration, opening them only upon Joey's return to his lap.

The blond was holding a paintbrush in one hand, and a jar of chocolate body butter in the other. "Ready for some desert?"

Kaiba's eyes darkened lustfully as he snatched the items from his lover's hands. "Get undressed." He ordered, and watched hungrily as the blond obeyed.

"How 'bout you?" Joey questioned.

Wordlessly, the brunet set down the sex toys and eased his pullover over his head, then loosened his belt and pants and slipped them off. As Joey slid back into his lap, he dabbed the paintbrush into the jar, and then in a broad sweeping gesture, he painted a heart over Joey's chest, making sure to cover both nipples with the silky butter.

The blond giggled from the ticklish sensation and the cool moisture, and then gasped as Kaiba sucked the chocolate off one and then the other nipple. His tongue followed the trail he'd of chocolate he painted and his cock twitched against Joey's ass in response to the blond's erotic mewlings. By the time he'd thoroughly licked Joey's torso clean, they were both flushed and panting with desire.

"My turn," Joey rasped. He shifted positions freeing Kaiba's impressive erection. Instead of using the paintbrush, he dipped his fingers into the jar and then slathered the chocolate over the brunet's sex and slipped out of his lap to kneel in front of him. Joey reached his chocolate-covered fingers toward Kaiba's mouth, and Kaiba captured them. As the blond gave his lover head, Kaiba's mouth mimicked his lover's ministrations. The sweet tasting cock encouraged Joey's salivary glands, and soon he'd lubricated the entire length of Kaiba's shaft. "Ngh, enough of this ... I need you so bad," he whispered as he crawled back into the brunet's lap, this time positioning his entrance over his lover's cock head. He slowly sat down and let gravity help ease the brunet inside until he was deeply seated inside Joey.

Kaiba lifted out of the chair and pushed Joey onto his back on top of the table. As he began to thrust into the blond in a measured rhythm, he too abandoned the brush and liberally painted Joey's lips, throat and chest with the sensual cream. Then he quickened his pace, muffling his lover's ecstatic screams with his lips and tongue, leisurely cleaning the chocolate mess from Joey's mouth, and then trailing his tongue down the blond's chocolate covered neck. As he pushed deeper inside his lover, Kaiba felt Joey's muscles clench around him and his back arch off of the table when he brushed the blond's prostrate. He hit the mark unmercifully, feeling his own climax building in reaction to Joey's screams and urgings for him to 'do that again' and then to 'fuck me harder, pleeease.' He pushed Joey further up on the table and managed to hoist himself up without breaking their union, resting the blond's legs against his shoulders and driving into him faster and more erratically as he felt his own orgasm building in his loins. At last, he palmed Joey's neglected cock and stroked it in a torturously slow manner, finally coming almost simultaneously to the blond's abandoned release. He lay down on top of Joey, their sweat mingling with semen and chocolate.

Joey felt Kaiba's heart pounding against his chest and he hugged his lover tightly to him. Since he'd walked out on the brunet, he'd felt empty and alone, but now, with the brunet's weight pressing against him, pinning him to the table, his cock still buried deeply within, and both sated from their love-making, he felt whole again.

He turned his head and found himself gazing into Kaiba's deep blue eyes. They stared at each other for a few minutes in silence, allowing the euphoria from their lovemaking to slowly dissipate. "What?" Joey asked finally.

Kaiba smiled. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Overrated, or underrated?"

"Hmmm," Joey said, exaggeratedly knitting his brow. "I'm not so sure. Ya think you can demonstrate that for me again?"

 

* * *

The next morning both of Seto Kaiba's personal secretaries were greeted with extravagant flower arrangements on their desks when they arrived for work.

Hana scanned the small card that had been stuck amidst her bouquet, recognizing immediately her employer's elegant handwriting.

'Ms. Nozaki,' it read.

'Thank you for all your years of hard work and your unerringly good counsel.

\--SK'


End file.
